


The Land of Cloth

by predilection



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-12
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2018-03-30 06:04:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3925609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/predilection/pseuds/predilection
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naruto unexpectedly runs into Sasuke in a place where no one knows who they are, and where they're unable to fight each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Land of Cloth

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about potential chance encounters between Naruto and Sasuke, and the next thing I knew, I ended up writing this fic.

The Land of Cloth is a tiny country known for its textile exports, its brightly colored towns, and for being very controlling of any foreign shinobi who enter their land. All foreign shinobi must register their presence upon entering the country, and in doing so, also promise not to fight while in Cloth territory. 

This declaration is understood as a gesture of goodwill, and so Naruto registers as a shinobi of the Land of Fire when he crosses their border. He's on his way back to Konoha after completing a solo mission, and after weighing his options -- sleeping outside or sleeping with a roof over his head -- he decides to stay in a town in the Land of Cloth for the night.

Naruto knows that the Land of Cloth specializes in sensor-type shinobi, and knows that they are likely monitoring both him and the entire town he's chosen to stay in. They can sense killing intent and fluctuations in chakra, and they are present to prevent shinobi from fighting while in the country.

Naruto traveled through this town a year ago with Kakashi, Sakura and Sai. He remembers how they encountered shinobi from Hidden Mist in the town square. One of Cloth's ANBU had appeared the second Kakashi's chakra had flickered substantially and had said warningly, "Is there something wrong, shinobi-san?"

Naruto doesn't like being in this country. He doesn't like having to keep tabs on his chakra usage -- especially since he has so much of it -- but it's only for the night. He just needs to stay long enough to rest before heading back to Konoha.

Using his remaining mission budget, Naruto gets himself a room at an inn and then he heads to the market. The market, like the rest of the town, is beautiful. Virtually every building is made of a rich dark wood which is adorned with fabric of vibrant colors. Naruto takes in the sights as he finds a ramen stall and eats his fill.

He's on his way back to the inn when he sees a familiar looking figure out of the corner of his eye. Though he only sees the person from the back, they have an athletic build and a haircut that Naruto would recognize anywhere. He immediately shakes his head to clear it, because when he has moments like these -- moments when he thinks he's seeing Sasuke -- they always turn out to be him seeing not what is really there, but what he wants to see.

The person disappears down a crowded side street, but before he does, Naruto catches glimpse of pale skin and a white robe. Though Naruto knows he's probably imagining things, he wants to be sure so he turns down the same side street.

He quickly maneuvers through the crowd until he spots the person, and then he hurries towards them. He reaches out to tap the person on their shoulder -- Naruto knows it's ridiculous, because if it really was Sasuke, he would sense Naruto coming -- and before he makes contact, the person he's reaching towards is turning.

The next thing Naruto knows, he's being slammed up against the side of a nearby shop, an arm pressing hard enough against his upper chest to hold him there.

Naruto's breath catches in his throat because a familiar face is glaring at him from less than a foot away. This close, he can feel the faint hum of familiar chakra, and he knows that this time it really is Sasuke.

"Sasuke?" he asks, shocked, and his voice comes out like a whisper.

Sasuke continues to glare at him with a displeased expression on his face. 

Naruto shifts against his hold and looks down. The first thing he notices is that what he can see of one of Sasuke's arms -- the one not pinning him to the wall -- is bandaged. When he realizes that they're not ninja bandages but medical ones, Naruto figures that Sasuke must be hiding in this town because he's recovering from some kind of injury.

Much to Naruto's frustration, Sasuke is still a S-ranked missing nin with a giant bounty on his head. No one would bother looking for him here of all places, and that's not only because it would be impossible to fight him without alerting the town's ANBU. This town is a good place for Sasuke to hide and recover from whatever injuries he may have. 

"Sasuke," Naruto says again, more confidently this time, and he feels something ease in his chest, even with Sasuke's arm still against him. Because he's finally found Sasuke, and now they're in a place where neither of them can afford to fight, which means they can talk and--

Naruto senses shinobi nearby -- likely on the roof of the store they're pressed against -- and knows Sasuke senses them too by the way his eyes dart momentarily upward. They're almost certainly Cloth ANBU.

Naruto makes a face. "I registered," he explains to Sasuke. "So they've probably been tracking me." He doesn't mention the position they're in or how the ANBU are probably worried that despite the lack of chakra usage, that they'll have a battle on their hands. He knows he doesn't have to.

Sasuke stares at him for a moment more, and when Naruto senses one of the ANBU a few feet behind them, he feels Sasuke tense.

There's a chance they're going to recognize Sasuke, Naruto realizes, and if they do, Naruto knows the likelihood of there being a fight is extremely high.

Naruto doesn't want it to come to that, so he racks his brain for an explanation why a registered shinobi would be pressed against a storefront in such a way. He's still trying to come up with something -- anything -- when Sasuke huffs, and says, "Dead last." 

The words makes Naruto freeze because they're something Sasuke hasn't called him in years. Sasuke takes advantage of Naruto's distraction to lean forward and press their lips together.

Naruto is frozen against him because Sasuke -- who he's fought with and against in battle, who he's spent years searching for, and who he's always felt connected to -- is _kissing_ him. 

Naruto starts to kiss Sasuke back, his hands grabbing Sasuke's shoulders, when he hears someone laugh. A voice says, "Pardon our concern, shinobi-san," before the ANBU he sensed all vanish except for one who seems to settles on the roof across the way.

 _Oh_ , Naruto thinks as the pieces come together, and he feels disappointment as Sasuke pulls away from him, his expression as hard and as blank as ever.

Naruto licks his lips before he catches what he's doing and then he pushes Sasuke's arm away.

"What the hell?" he hisses. Even though he knows why Sasuke did it, it still doesn't make sense, because Sasuke kissed him of his own volition and Sasuke has never given Naruto so much as a hint that he has ever considered such a relation between them before.

Sasuke doesn't answer. He just rolls his eyes, turns, and heads back into the crowd.

Naruto grabs his arm to stop him. "What was that?" he demands.

Sasuke knocks Naruto's hand off of him easily, and says, "We never encountered each other here." He walks back into the crowd like nothing happened.

Naruto growls in frustration and chases after him. "Like hell we didn't," he says when he catches up.

"You're the one being watched, _shinobi-san_ ," Sasuke says.

Naruto sighs and knows he's letting his confusion and irritation show as he hisses back, "That's not even close to an explanation for what just happened, asshole."

Sasuke doesn't seem to react at all. He simply keeps walking through the market.

Naruto follows him, and Naruto notices that Sasuke doesn't tell him to get lost even though his ANBU shadow is still monitoring them. As strange as it might be, it makes Naruto feel nostalgic for a time when he and Sasuke used to travel together like this as part of the same team.

"Where are you going?" Naruto asks a few minutes later. 

"Where are you staying?" Sasuke asks him.

"The Silk Inn," Naruto replies before he realizes that this is a strange question for Sasuke to be asking.

Sasuke nods slightly and turns down another street. Naruto stays by his side. The silence between them is tense at the same time it's familiar and comfortable, and Naruto is so distracted by it that it takes him a good five minutes to notice that they're heading towards his inn.

His ANBU shadow is still following them and Naruto sighs. "You don't want to lead them back to where ever you're staying, do you?"

Sasuke doesn't reply and Naruto runs a frustrated hand through his hair. He's not complaining about Sasuke walking him back to his hotel but he doesn't have any idea why Sasuke is voluntarily spending time with him, especially when he's spent the last few years avoiding him like the plague.

When Naruto enters the inn, he figures Sasuke will continue on his way. After all, the ANBU trailing them is there to keep tabs on him and him alone. They obviously have no clue who Sasuke even is given that they haven't sounded an alarm. Yet Sasuke follows him inside the inn and down the hall to the door of his room.

Naruto feels uncharacteristically nervous as he unlocks the door because he has no idea what to expect when they get inside. He wonders if Sasuke will actually talk to him or if Sasuke will try to fight him hand-to-hand out of sight of the ANBU.

What Naruto isn't expecting is for Sasuke to push him against the door the second it closes behind them and kiss Naruto again.

Naruto doesn't understand what Sasuke is thinking, but Naruto _wants_ this -- has wanted this for years -- and so he fists his hands into Sasuke's robe, flips them so Sasuke is the one against the door, and kisses him back.

Naruto pushes his hips up against Sasuke's, and Sasuke growls and shoves him further into the small room. 

Sasuke pushes Naruto down until he's flat on his back on the futon, and then he settles on top of him, straddling his thighs. Naruto leans up to kiss him just as one of Sasuke's hands starts tugging at the zipper of Naruto's jacket. Sasuke pulls his jacket and under armour off of him, only breaking their kiss once in the process, and while Naruto tries to get Sasuke out of his clothing, he's unable to concentrate on the task with the way Sasuke is exploring every inch of Naruto's newly exposed skin with his hands.

In a way, it reminds Naruto of what it feels like to spar with Sasuke. Their kisses and touches are rough and anything but gentle, but there's a competitive edge to them that's invigorating and has him wanting more.

Naruto curses as Sasuke gets him out of the last of his clothing and slides his hands all the way from Naruto's chest down to his thighs. Naruto knows what Sasuke's about to do, and even though he wants it, he catches Sasuke's hands, holding them still in both of his own. He's gentler with the arm that he knows now is wrapped in medical bandages from wrist to bicep. 

He sits up, not letting go of Sasuke's hands in the process. Naruto feels some satisfaction and comfort when he notices that Sasuke's eyes are wide and dark with longing. 

Naruto hisses, "Don't toy with me," because he wants this, but he needs Sasuke to want it too. "Is this something you actually want?" Naruto asks, and he doesn't break eye contact as he waits for Sasuke's answer.

Sasuke is still for a moment except for the way that he, like Naruto, is breathing heavily. Then Sasuke huffs like he did in the market, and to Naruto's surprise, leans forward to gently rest his forehead against Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto feels Sasuke's breath against his collarbone and it feels like minutes pass before Sasuke whispers, "Yes."

Something in Naruto's chest constricts at the softness he hears in Sasuke's voice and suddenly Naruto wants to see Sasuke's face. He releases Sasuke's hands so he can thread his fingers into the hair at the back of Sasuke's neck. He lightly pulls until Sasuke raises his head enough that Naruto can see his expression.

Sasuke looks strangely vulnerable, something bright in his eyes for the first time in years, and Naruto feels his breath leave him.

He uses the hand in Sasuke's hair to pull him closer and this time their kiss is much gentler than the ones that came before it. Naruto clings to Sasuke, losing himself in something he never thought he'd be able to experience -- not with Sasuke, not like this -- and lets Sasuke push him down onto the futon once more.

 

*

 

Afterwards, Sasuke doesn't linger. He pulls away from Naruto almost immediately, cleans himself off using the bedding, and stands without a word.

"Stay," Naruto says, the word heavy on his tongue. 

Sasuke sighs, and reaches for his robe. Naruto rolls over and grabs it just as Sasuke does. Naruto pulls on it as he says, "At least for the night." He hates that it sounds like he's begging, but he still has so much to say to Sasuke and the evening's activities have simply added more things to his list.

Sasuke shakes his head slightly. "My team will come looking for me soon," he says matter-of-fact, and the words hurt because not only does Sasuke wants to leave him, he wants to leave him for a team that isn't Team 7.

Sasuke tugs his robe out of Naruto's hand and puts it on. Naruto closes his eyes and sighs. He doesn't want to watch Sasuke leave, not when he can't follow, and so it comes as a surprise when Naruto feels Sasuke's weight settle on top of him. Naruto blinks up at Sasuke as Sasuke places a hand on the back of Naruto's neck and kisses him. 

Naruto feels something like relief that Sasuke can't simply walk away from whatever just happened between them -- that he, too, recognizes that something has changed between them.

Sasuke breaks the kiss, and brings their foreheads together for a moment. Then he smirks, and says, "Dead last," with such obvious affection that Naruto can't help but grin, even as Sasuke pulls away from him for the final time.

 

*

 

The ANBU that's been trailing him since he ran into Sasuke in the market shadows him past the city limits and all the way to the country's border. It's only when Naruto is going through customs and handing back his registration to the clerk there that the ANBU appears before him. They offer him a nod to acknowledge that they will no longer be tailing him.

A day ago, Naruto would never have imagined that he would be reluctant to leave the Land of Cloth given its monitoring of chakra use and its ANBU surveillance, but as he readjusts his pack, he's not sure he wants to leave. Though he needs to get back to Konoha, part of him wants to stay -- wants to seek Sasuke out to discover what could happen between them if he did.

Still, as Naruto walks through the gates and heads towards Konoha, he feels lighter than he has in a long time. Things between him and Sasuke are not resolved -- if anything, they're more complicated than ever -- but they're _different_ in a way that fills Naruto with hope for their next encounter.


End file.
